Recent pieces address the toll of measles; evidence vs. hype in treating heroin addiction; why foodborne-illness outbreaks linked to poultry keep happening; and more.
Food Safety & Nutrition
Researchers map a policy route toward huge reductions in U.S. childhood poverty
If national lawmakers took action on less than a dozen policy fronts, they could reduce child poverty in the U.S. by a whopping 60 percent. In sheer numbers, such a reduction would lift 6.6 million children out of poverty and significantly improve their opportunities for living long and fruitful lives.
Introduction of a new TSCA reform bill is expected some time this spring. In the meantime, The Pump Handle takes a look at what’s at stake in TSCA reform and why the outcome matters to those who care about protecting and improving occupational and public health.
Pesticide drift from a pear orchard sickened 20 farmworkers laboring in a neighboring cherry orchard. Many sought care, but the state’s health department wasn’t notified by the workers’ clinicians. It was a newspaper reporter who called authorities. Where were the clinician reports and why are they so important?
It’s not unusual for studies on community walkability to face the perplexing question of self-selection. In other words, people who already like to walk end up moving to walkable communities and so those communities naturally have higher physical activity rates. In even simpler terms, it’s about the person, not the environment. However, a new study finds that walkable community design does influence healthy behavior — even among people with no preference for walking in the first place.
Exploring the Uberization of work; big retailers fight new OSHA injury reporting rule; Congress members introduce paid leave for federal workers; and John Boehner inadvertently makes the case for a minimum wage increase.
Evidence has been accumulating about the toll of prolonged sitting, and a new systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows just how harmful sedentary habits can be.
Government
Not an “accident”: Jason Strycharz, 40, suffers fatal work-related injury in Middletown, CT
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the U.S. This one occurred on January 23, 2015 in Middletown, CT.
The closing of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant didn’t make many headlines, but for me it brought back a flood of memories and an important lesson.
Government
Child poverty remains high, with nearly 32 million American kids living in low-income families
Rarely do poverty and optimal health go together. In fact, income is consistently tapped as a major factor underpinning a person’s opportunity to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, children don’t fare much better, with low-income children facing increased risks of poor health and development. So, just how many American children face this challenge today? Four out of every 10.